The British Industrializing Era History Book
Chapter 1 Industrialization Begins Section 1 - The English Inventor Setting The Scene : In 1744 the British economy was running its normal pace. Crops were growing as usual. Goods were being made at their regular slow pace. However this would all soon change in the year's following before the nation, as one man with a simple invention changes the nation forever. The British Economy The British Economy was doing its usual. Crops coming in on time, and sometimes not on time. Factories taking weeks to produce items needed for the Nation to survive. All-in-all the nation was doing fine in its economics department. But some people knew the economy could boom. King George II of England (John Breasly), current ruler of England at the time said "I need the wheat for my crumpets, but the wheat is not coming in fast at all, we need more wheat!" Other problems soon sprang up of the problem of Wagon high-jackings, and the supplies of coal taking forever to reach factories and businesses which needed coal to survive. Things were coming to a quick change. The Wheat Harvester When King George II urged men to find a way to harvest wheat faster, nobody could find a simple way. One of his servants came up with the idea of closing factories and businesses to focus on Agriculture. King George II thought the idea was the most idiotic thing he ever heard. Another suggested training and hiring men to throw knives down a row of wheat cutting it down, but yet the people would have to retrieve the knife which could easily be lost, and the wheat would take forever to pick up. A British citizen named Joshua William Pond came up with his own idea. He chained a Belt on two poles, attached a knife, and a bag behind the knife, and put a wheel on the belt. When he turned the wheel, the wheat was cut by the knife and almost 95% of the wheat fell into the bag! It took him only 5 minutes to pick up the ones that had been missed! King George saw Ponds Creation, and loved it! Pond was appointed to Chief of command of a new English Program called The British Experimental Program. The Steel Cage Wagon The problem with shipping explosives was if you were raided, u would explode and die. Throughout England and the North American Colonies, wagon raiding was a major problem. So Joshua Pond came up with another brilliant idea. He made The Steel Cage Wagon! The Steel Cage Wagon was made of entirely steel. Joshua Pond quoted of his masterpiece- "The wooden wheels of a wood wagon will rot. Bullets can go through the wood, damaging cargo. And explosives can be shot, killing the drivers and passengers if need be. And prisoners can bust down the wood, as can untamed animals. This wagon prevents the above reasons" Which it did. The Wagons wheels would not rot in rain or break from large bumps because of the strength of the steel. Bullets could not pass through the steel at all, the steel doors were too big and heavy to be busted down by prisoners, and the cage prevented explosives and other cargo from being shot. Section 2 - Growth of Industry The Steel Mill Factory Industry was growing like mad in England! Pond was inventing, and inventing like there was no tomorrow! He finally realized he needed to take a break from inventing and start a business with all the money he was granted from his inventions. Pond was really interested in steel. He started up his own Steel Factory in London. It was very poor and slow tho. He decided to try and find a way to improve the speed of steel making. So he hired many men to do a process he called Steeling Steel. In this process, he heated big tons of steel up, and his men pounded in flat, and he made sheets of every size. He packed the steel in boxes and shipped across the country. Pond was a very loved man in the English economy. He created so many jobs it was too good to be true! The Factory Shipping Track Shipping good across the country to a very long time to do. So Joshua Pond invented another object for his business benefit. He invented a Wagon Shipping Track. Editing his Steel Wagons design he could place wagons on the track that went from town to town. He started the track on August 17th, 1744, and finished in the same year on December 16th. This system of transportation increased steel shipping by 50%. But, it also decreased shipping by 50%. The towns at the end of the line took a long time to receive their steel since the track was only one-way. So Pond built another track circling around the other way. The transportation was much better than crowded narrow dirt roads. The King of England declared the economy to be running "A full 150% thanks to Pond". Other Businesses Other Businesses came to grow very jealous of Ponds company. He was gaining more money than he could use. Business after business offered Pond money to use his track system. He refused all offers. Until, the "Big Buy". Pond bought every single Steel company out, He Destroyed all the companies factories, and employed all the workers to where his factory, which he made even bigger! The purpose was so no Steel company could use his tracks. after he bought out all Steel Companies, he accepted every offer made. Pond made over 17 Million Dollars in letting companies use his track. He made over 100 thousand a year from the track by getting paid for them to continue using the track every year. The track became very crowded, so more were built. Pond had started something no business could do without. Section 3 - The War Effort The Ash Cannonball The British Navy and Army were also looking in to get on Ponds creations. The army needed something to make the enemy vulnerable. Pond came up with The Ash Cannonball. The Ash Cannonball exploded right in front of the enemies faces, basically blinding them. The Army was amazed at how well it worked! The British were easily conquering in their war against Spain. "Pond has created a Empire of Industry, Business, and prosparity". - British Admiral John C. Shehelm. The HMS Duchess The HMS Duchess was a ship designed for the Navy by Joshua Pond. The Ship had two layers of steel plating and a wooden layer on the outside. The ship had almost 95 cannons on its port and starboard side. 5 cannons on the stern and 5 cannons on the bow. Reaching a max of 194 total cannons. Category:POTCO Category:Role-Play